Sewing head



April 22, M1. Q W, AV RY 2,239,311

SEWING HEAD Filed Oct. 14. 1937 11v VENTOR. K/zrezzae 14/ fizzy A TORNE V's.

Patented Apr. 22, 1941 i i T E STTE S SEWING HEAD Application October 14, 1937, Serial No. 169,005

6 Claims.

My invention relates to sewing machines, and particularly to a sewing machine which simultaneously stitches a plurality of pleats which may be varied in width by needles which are driven by a common source of power.

More particularly the invention embodies the driving head for the walking beam which supports one or a plurality of needles in such manner that the machine may be operated at high speed. Machines known in the art as gang stitchers" are expensive, especially when employed in combination with additional apparatus for assembling and feeding material to the machine. By doubling the speed of the machine, the production obtained from two machines heretofore may now be obtained on the faster machine operated by my driving head.

The driving head in general embodies a split casing which may be disposed about the driving shaft to be adjusted therealong .to position the needles at variouspoints. The casing encloses a driving gear which is keyed to the shaft for longitudinal movement thereon and provides a support for a pinion gear in mesh with the driving gear. gears so that a lubricant may be provided within the casing in which the gears operate. The shaft of the pinion gear carries an eccentric which is counterbalanced and which drives the walking beam in reciprocation. While a single needle may be operated by each of the walking beams, a plurality of needles is herein illustrated and described as being operated by a single beam. By employing the plurality of needles, narrow pleats may be stitched in materials, much narrower than the distance between the centers of the walking beams when the casings are disposed as close together as possible.

Accordingly, the main objects of my invention are; to provide an enclosed driving head for a The casing encompasses and seals the sewing machine which is adjustable relative to the driving shaft; to provide a driving head for a sewing machine embodying a casing disposed about a driving shaft and gear for sealing the gear and shaft while permitting the gear to be adjusted longitudinally thereof; to seal a driving gear and pinion within a casing with a crank arm exteriorly thereof for driving a walking beam; to pivot a slide carrier adjacent to a Walking beam which carries a slide containing one or more sewing needles; to provide an adjustable casing about gears having mounted in the wall thereof sealed ball bearings in which the shaft for the gears are journaled; and in general, to provide driving heads for a sewing machine of the gang stitcher type which is simple in construction, and which will withstand high speed operation.

Other objects and features of novelty of my invention will be either specifically pointed out or will become apparent when referring, for a better understanding of my invention to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein;

Fig. 1 is a broken view of a sewing machine, illustrating driving heads and sewing needles, embodying features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1, taken on the line 22 thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1, taken on the line 33 thereof; and,

Fig. 4. is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 3, taken on the line 44 thereof.

In Fig. 1, I have illustrated a driving shaft iii of a sewing machine which drives gears ll enclosed within casings l2 disposed about the shaft. The shaft H) is, provided with a keyway [3 throughout its length, in which a key M of each of the gears II is disposed to providea driving movement. The key is of sufiicient length to extend against a ball bearing [5 provided on each side of each of the gears and journaled in the walls of the casing H. I V

The-casing includes a housing I 6, having a base I1, which is supported on cross members I8 of the machine. The base ll is adjustably supported on the cross members 18 and is herein illustrated as being secured thereto by bolts l9 having their heads disposed in T slots 21.

It is to be understood that means other than the T headed bolts may be provided for adjustably securing the base to cross members It.

A cap 22 forms the other portion of the casing which clamps and supports the bearings l5. By removing the cap 22 the entire housing It may be removed from about the shaft H]. A pinion gear 23 is mounted in the housing ii: on a pair of bearings 24 which are journaled in the housing. The pinion 23 is secured to a stub shaft 25 by a key 26 and retained against longitudinal movement by a screw 30. The opposite end of the shaft 25 is provided with an eccentric arm 2? which is counterbalanced at 28 and which carries a stub shaft 29.

A walking beam 3% is provided with a bearing 32 which is disposed over the stub shaft 29 and secured thereon by a headed screw 33. An eccentric motion is provided to the Walking bean;

through the operation of the gears H and 23 by the shaft it.

While an oscillatable tube may support the walking beam 3| the lower end of which contains a sewing needle, I have illustrated herein a slide it supported by the pitman 3!, which slide supports a plurality of needles 35 in a conventional manner. The slide is retained in an element 35 containing ways for guiding the slide 34. The element 36 is supported on pivots 31 carried by a bracket 38 which is adjustably. secured to cross bars 39. The elements 36 per- Init the oscillation of the pitman 3! while guid ing the slide 34 containing the needles which are reciprocated Vertically through the material to be stitched.

The bearings 15 and 24 are of the oil sealed type, and are herein illustrated as being provided with an inner metal ring 41 secured inthe inner race and slightly spaced from the outer race. A felt washer 63 seals the outside portion of the bearing and prevents the escape of the lubricant provided within the casing. l2. The bearing 32, provided on the stub shaft 29 within the head of the pitman 3|, is preferably provided on each side with the metal washer 4i and the felt washer 43. 1 In this manner, the lubricant provided within the bearing 32 is prevented from escaping from either side thereof.

It is to be understood that the driving connec- 9 tions for the shaft It and the looper needles, which operate in conjunction with needles 35 to produce the stitching, may be of conventional form and are, therefore, not herein illustrated or described. Such conventional construction lends itself to high speed operation and the limitation in the driving head heretofore encountered, which limited such operation, is overcome by the driving heads herein illustrated and described.

While I have described and illustrated but a single embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes, omissions, additions, and substitutions may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, as set forth in the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. A sewing machine having a drive shaft, a gear on said shaft, a bearing on said shaft on each side of said gear, a casing enclosing said gear and supporting said bearingand shaft, a second shaft journaled within said casing disposed in parallel relation to said first shaft, a gear on said second shaft meshed with said first gear, a pitman, a crank on said second shaft for driving said pitman, and a lubricant in said casing about said gears.

2. A sewing machine having a drive shaft, a gear on said shaft, a bearing on said shaft on each side of said gear, a casing enclosing said gear and supporting said bearing and shaft, a second shaft journaled within said casing disposed in parallel relation to said first shaft, a gear on said second shaft meshed with said first gear, a pitman, a crank on said second shaft for driving said pitman, a lubricant in said casing about said gears, and seals provided on said .bearing.

3. A sewing machine having a drive shaft, a gear on said shaft, a bearing on said shaft on each side of said gear, a casing enclosing said gear and supporting said bearing and shaft, a second shaft journaled within said casing disposed in parallel relation to said first shaft, a gear on said second shaft meshed with said first gear, a pitman, a crank on said second shaft for driving said pitman, and a bearing mounted between said pitman and crank having sealing means'for a lubricant.

4. A sewing machine having a drive shaft, a.

gear on said shaft, a bearing on said shaft on each side of said gear, a casing enclosing said gear and supporting said bearing and shaft, a second shaft journaled within said casing disposed in parallel relation to said first shaft, a gear on said second shaft meshed with said first gear, a pitman, a crank on said second shaft for driving said pitman, said casing being vertically separated through said bearings.

5. A sewing machine having a drive shaft, a plurality of gears on said shaft in driving and axially sliding relation therewith, bearing on said shaft on each side of said gears, casings enclosing said gears and supporting said bearings, crank shafts journaled in bearings in said casings disposed parallel to said first shaft, gears on said crank shafts in mesh with said first gears, and mounting means for said casings on which said casings are adjustably secured, said casings being split vertically through said first mentioned bearings and removable from said shaft and mounting means.

6. A sewing machine having a drive shaft, a plurality. of gears on said shaft in driving and axially sliding relation therewith, bearing on said shaft on each side of said gears, casings enclosing said gears and supporting said bearings, crank shafts journaled in bearings in said casings disposed parallel to said first shaft, gears on said crank shafts in mesh with said first gears, mounting means for said casings on which said casings are adjustably secured, a lubricant in said casings; and means for sealing said lubricant therewithin.

' CLARENCE W. AVERY. 

